Kudumbashree organises National Workshop on Elderly Friendly Communities

Posted on Sunday, November 17, 2019

A National Workshop on Elderly Friendly Communities will be organised by Kudumbashree associating with Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) at Mascot Hotel, Thiruvananthapuram on 19 and 20 November 2019. The workshop has been conceived in the context of the challenges posed by demographic transition. Shri A.C. Moideen, Minister for Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala will inaugurate the workshop at Mascot Hotel, Thiruvananthapuram on 19 November 2019. Shri. T.K. Jose IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala will preside over the function. The workshop will conclude with a plenary session addressed by Smt K.K. Smt. K. K. Shailaja Teacher, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of Kerala in the afternoon session scheduled to be held on 20 November 2019. Smt. Sarada Muraleedharan IAS, Principal Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala will chair the plenary session. The technical sessions will feature national and international experiences and various knowledge domains. The National Workshop will bring together the expertise of people specializing on the issues relating to the elderly population together, draw from the experiences of elderly-friendly initiatives across the country and outside, and help develop checklists that would work as practical guides at the field level for local level planning and action.

The workshop will examine the demographic transition that Kerala is undergoing and the challenges that it poses as the proportion of the elderly rises in the state’s population. The social implications of demographic transition and the readiness that the healthcare system has to ensure will be examined at the seminar. There will be sessions that feature the issues of developing a reliable system for geriatric care which will look into specific challenges of mobility and active ageing.The workshop will also examine the social justice dimension of ageing and health care for the elderly by throwing light on the vulnerable sections of the society. It will probe dementia as a special topic as the condition poses specific challenges to elderly care in general and healthcare in particular. Technological challenges and trends in assistive technologies will also be discussed. The workshop will deliberate on the emerging ‘care economy’, exploring the economic and social challenges and opportunities in care-giving and palliative care. Different models from the public sector as well as not-for-profit and private sectors will be examined. Various models that have emerged in the sector through local government initiatives will be presented and discussed as part of this. The workshop is expected to help in developing new strategies and programmes for moving towards elderly-friendly communities.

The participants of the workshop would include experts, administrators, agencies and institutions working on issues relating to the elderly, elderly-care, palliative care, and nursing care. Local governments and Kudumbashree Community Development Societies with experience in running similar programmes will be invited to share their experiences at the workshop.

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Technological challenges and trends in assistive technologies will also be discussed.